This paper examines Valentina Maini's 2020 novel La mischia, which offers a range of elements that help identify an 'unstable reality' as the narrative fabric. Its complex structure reveals continual reconfigurations of the plot and of the relationships between characters, compelling the reader to question the status of the entire narrative, suspended between realism and dream. The term 'realism' can indeed be used productively, but only by considering both the specific scope assigned to the weird within the broader sphere of the fantastical-supernatural, and Mark Fisher's sociological-political use of that category.
The role of passions in the works of Italo Calvino is still largely overlooked. This essay uses narrative semiotics to show that passions are an essential aspect of his writing, as they contribute to shaping his notion of literary realism through different periods, genres, and styles. The analysis focuses on a semiotic reading of the guizzo in Calvino's last novel, Palomar (1983). It is a complex word that expresses a startling perception, a flash of revelation, and a leap of imagination. Drawing from Algirdas J. Greimas with cross-references to Roland Barthes, this essay argues that Calvino's guizzo captures his visual aesthetics as a form of affective realism, which sheds new light on his theory of imagination and fantastic literature.
